Page 12 of The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor #5)

Chapter Twelve

Now

M ac had offered to drop Annie off at home so she could get other bridesmaid things done and he would go check the inn, but as expected, Annie’s control-freak tendencies were still in full swing. She didn’t trust him to go alone.

And even though he’d been asking Crystal out only a few minutes ago, he couldn’t help the excitement he felt at spending time alone with Annie. This was the first time in over a decade that she’d even allowed it, other than the night of Hazel’s birthday. And that had ended before it even started.

He’d tried to give her the space she clearly wanted, but in a town like this, avoidance was impossible.

Especially since he and Logan had bonded over their secret love for creating little woodland scenes in decorative glass containers at Iris’s terrarium-making class and became better friends than they ever had been in school.

Annie had become unavoidable. She was everywhere.

Town-hall meetings, holidays at Logan’s house, farmers’ markets, festivals, school fundraisers. The woman was omnipresent.

He didn’t hate it, but unfortunately, she hated him.

Not that he could really blame her. He’d fucked up all those years ago.

He was perfectly aware of that but, Christ, could that woman hold a grudge.

How could Annie possibly still hold him accountable for his actions when he was a kid?

He’d attempted to apologize, to explain multiple times since he’d been back, and she wouldn’t even let him try.

Right on track, Mac had swung from pining over Annie to being pissed that she wouldn’t even hear him out. That was typical, too.

By the time they arrived at the inn, he was equal parts frustrated with her and eager to hang out with her.

‘You should get me drinks more often,’ she said as she hopped out of the truck.

He ignored her pointed look. ‘What, so you can pour it on me? No, thanks.’ He strode toward the front entrance.

‘That was one time,’ Annie protested, hurrying to catch up.

‘Twice,’ he said, pausing at the big double doors to the Inn. ‘If you count the beer I bought you as a peace offering on my first night working at the pub.’

She was at least embarrassed enough to look mildly apologetic about that one.

‘Right. Sorry, I forgot about that time.’

The other had been a (thankfully) lukewarm cocoa he’d bought her at last year’s Christmas-tree lighting, a shameless attempt to bring back memories of a happier Christmas between them. The cocoa landing in his lap had ended that dream pretty quickly.

‘Yeah, well, fool me twice…’ He yanked open the door, rattling the giant evergreen wreath hanging from it.

‘What crawled up your butt since the café?’ Annie asked, scurrying in behind him.

‘Nothing crawled up my butt,’ he said, far too loudly for the quiet lobby. Several guests warming themselves by the fireplace gave him the side eye as he walked by.

‘Sometimes these little trips down memory lane make me wonder why I ever want to spend time around you,’ he said, lowering his voice as they approached the front desk.

Annie shrugged but he could see the flicker of hurt in her eyes. ‘You’re free to go. I can take it from here.’ She rang the silver bell on the counter, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder and hitting him in the face with it.

‘Oh no, I’m invested now. Besides, I know you think you have dibs on Logan but he’s my friend, too and, as his best man, I should be involved in the Nana search.’

Annie rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever. And you’re not his best man. Noah is.’

‘Fine. As one of his lesser groomsmen, it is still within my duties to find his grandmother.’

‘Keep your voice down,’ Annie hissed. ‘We don’t need the whole town knowing she’s missing.’

‘And why is that exactly?’ It seemed to Mac that the more people who knew, the quicker they would find her.

Annie sighed like it should be obvious. ‘Because then it will get back to Jeanie and Logan, and instead of spending the day before their wedding relaxing, they’ll spend it being stressed out. And that is not what we bridal-party people are shooting for. Got it?’

Mac shrugged. He still thought Annie was taking her bridesmaid duties a bit too seriously, but he did want his friend to have a good wedding weekend. He leaned in closer to Annie. For Logan’s sake.

‘Fine. We’ll keep it a secret,’ he whispered.

He couldn’t help his smug smile when Annie shivered at his nearness. She could deny it all she wanted but her body always gave her away.

‘Right. Good.’ Annie’s voice was breathy and low, and it hit Mac then, the reason why she never wanted to spend time alone with him. It was way too hard to pretend they hated each other this way. His smug smile grew.

They were still standing way too close when Jack emerged from the back room wearing a red bow tie, a Christmas vest covered in reindeer and with not a hair out of place.

Mac was glad they hadn’t gone to school together because he probably would have teased him and then he’d have to be apologizing right now.

But, as it was, Jack gave them both a big smile.

‘Well, hello! What brings you two here?’ His gaze flicked between the two of them and Annie hastily backed away from Mac.

‘We’re looking for Estelle, actually,’ Mac said, and Annie shot him a look for blowing their cover, but how else were they ever going to find this woman if they didn’t ask?

‘We heard she was here earlier, and we had a quick question for her,’ Annie added with a polite smile.

‘Hmm.’ Jack frowned. ‘I only got in an hour ago, so I’m not sure if she’s still here, but I know she has some family staying with us for the wedding, so it’s possible.’

‘Can you tell us the room numbers? For her relatives?’ Annie asked.

‘Well… I probably shouldn’t…’ While Jack weighed the moral implications of giving out guests’ room numbers, the doors opened with a gust of wind and a man carrying a large load of firewood stomped his feet on the welcome mats.

‘Oh, there’s Gabriel.’ A furious blush worked its way up Jack’s cheeks and Gabriel’s name came out on a breathy exhale.

‘Maybe he’s seen Estelle.’ Jack hustled over to the man with the firewood and Mac knew he looked the exact same way every time he hurried somewhere for a chance to be near Annie.

Jack had it bad for this guy and Mac could totally relate.

While they stood waiting for Jack to return with some answers, another man emerged from the back room.

‘Hello,’ Annie said, obviously curious about this newcomer.

‘Hello,’ the man said with a shy smile. ‘I’m just waiting for Jack.’

‘Are you a new employee here?’

‘Architect, actually.’

‘Really? How interesting! Are they doing work on the inn?’ Annie leaned closer, her elbows on the counter of the check-in desk.

‘That’s what we're discussing,’ the man said. He was soft-spoken with dark-rimmed glasses, and frankly Mac didn’t love the way Annie was looking at him.

‘I'm Annie Andrews. I own the bakery in town,’ she said, sticking her hand out to shake. ‘Welcome to Dream Harbor.’

‘Elliot,’ he said, shaking Annie's hand. ‘It's nice to meet you.’

Annie held onto his hand for a beat too long. She glanced at Mac before she said, ‘Are you free tomorrow night, Elliot?’

Mac bit so hard on his tongue to stop himself from protesting that he drew blood. Was Annie actually asking someone out in front of him? This was a new low, and one that he could not handle.

‘I… uh…’ The man blushed to the tips of his ears as he stammered, ‘I’m attending a wedding.’

‘Oh, wonderful! I will see you there, then,’ she said with a smug smile at Mac before Elliot slipped away into the manager’s office once again.

Mac didn’t have time to dwell on that little interaction for too long before Annie had his hand and was tugging him down the hallway.

‘What—’

‘Shh…’ She took a hard left down the first hallway with guest rooms. ‘It’ll be easier for us to take a little look around ourselves,’ she whispered.

‘You know you’re insane, right?’

She stopped and turned to glare at him. ‘I just want everything to go right and— What was that?’

‘What was what?’

‘Shh!’

‘Annie, I swear to God if you shush me one more time?—’

Before he could finish his threat, Annie had his hand again and had pulled him into the closest utility closet. It was pitch-black inside and smelled like lemon Pledge.

‘Annie—’

A single finger met his lips but, to her credit, she didn’t shush him.

And he was too distracted by the feel of her skin on his mouth to do anything but stand in shocked silence.

He didn’t give a shit what was out in that hallway.

If it kept him stuck in this dark closet with Annie, it could stay out there forever.

Voices drifted in through the doorway.

‘I’m just nervous about tomorrow.’

‘But you are head over heels for that man.’

‘I’m not worried about Logan or marriage. It’s the wedding part. It’s a big event. I want it to go well and everyone to have a good time.’

Mac knew he recognized that voice. Jeanie was in the hall with someone, and Annie didn’t want her to know they were here looking for Estelle. Hence the closet hiding place.

‘You’re the bride. All you have to worry about is saying yes. Leave everything else to the rest of us.’

‘Thanks, Mom. Have you seen Aunt Dot? She’s supposed to have my something old…’

A door down the hall opened and the voices faded as they went into the room.

Annie was standing so close that he felt her sigh of relief on his cheek. She let her finger fall from his lips and he wanted to grab it and put it back.

‘I told you,’ she hissed, snapping him out of his standing-too-close-to-Annie stupor.

‘You told me what?’

‘Jeanie is stressed about tomorrow and it’s our job to make sure that’s not the case.’

‘I don’t think her mom meant that we’re responsible for a missing-persons search. I think she was talking about wardrobe malfunctions and drunk-uncle situations.’

Annie huffed, and even though it was dark he could picture her rolling her eyes at him.